Our 2 Week Re-Check

Yesterday we had Logan's 2 week check-in @ The Allergy and Asthma Center. For the record, the staff there are AMAZING. Seriously! Over these two weeks I have been shocked at the difference we have witnessed! I never in a million years would have thought that allergies/asthma would have been the underlying cause of most of his problems (minus the developmental delays).

The allergist checked him out and his lung function has improved 15% since the last time we were in the office. His Advair has made a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE! It's awesome! I love knowing that he is able to get a restful nights sleep now... I still have yet to get used to the routine! I probably wake up 3-4 times a night checking on him to make sure he is breathing (because his noisy breathing is GONE)! :)

We have officially been corn-free for 2 weeks. It is going great, not near as hard as it was initially. We are actually saving quite a bit of money because it is so.much.easier to eat at home and know exactly what he is getting vs. doing a whole lotta research before going out to eat OR trusting that the waiter/waitress will really check the ingredients! We are now allowed to do a "corn challenge" if we want. It is where you introduce different corn derived ingredients one at a time and document which ones causes symptoms and what type of symptoms. My husband and I have just decided we know he is allergic, he is making progress, so we will wait to do that for a while. :)

Thanks for taking the time to read about our Logan! He sure is making progress and this makes us SUPER HAPPY! :) See ya soon!

By the way...check out the circles under his eyes!!! They are slowly fading!!! :)

Autumn

Just Hanging Out!

Logan has been doing really good the last few days! Behavior has been better than his average "normal" and we have been sticking heavily to the corn-free diet for him. This has been a complete lifestyle change, but as I have said before, I will do whatever it takes to help my children! :) This seems to be helping him tremendously! His breathing is still sleeping good at night, he isn't being near as harmful to himself or others, and he just seems happier!

I did order 3 books off of Amazon that contain corn-free cooking recipes. I am anxious to see what the recipes are like. Right now we have been doing a lot of grilled and baked REAL meat (chicken, pork, and beef), fresh vegetables, some canned vegetables, fresh fruit, and his bread. We have cut out ALL processed meat (hot dogs, bologna, sausage, etc.).

Today, Logan has been in a super happy and artistic kind of mood. I cut out shapes and he glued them on a piece of paper. 

I cannot believe the changes we are beginning to see. He has always been "sensory defensive" so he is EXTREMELY careful with his glue, unlike the typical 4 year old, and doesn't get it everywhere. Hey, I'm not complaining! ;) We did work on getting a little messy...I think I made him touch the glue twice (this is HUGE because he cannot stand ANYTHING on his hands!). I will probably break out the shaving cream tomorrow and let him play on the table and practice his name writting skills!

Hope you all have a fantastic day. I am going to go back to spending time with my lovebug Logan while we wait for the girls to get home from school and daddy to get home from work!

Day 4 of Intuniv

I did do my "Google" search on Intuniv to see what other moms had to say about the drug. I am beyond happy that this is a NON-STIMULANT. Almost all of the feedback that I read was positive. I also read the drug companies website. My only concern is that when this medication was originally developed, it was used to lower blood pressure. It somehow evolved into treating ADHD and has had a huge success rate.

Things that I am noticing with Logan since starting the medication (which by the way takes at LEAST 3 weeks to see the full effects):

1.) He is not usually tired and doesn't normally nap, however, since starting the medication he has taken a nap every single day and gone to bed super well. "Somnolence" is one of the side effects of this medicine and it says on their website that it could take a few weeks for this to subside. Most of the blogs, etc that I have read from other moms say that they had similar experiences. I am hoping this goes away sooner than later.

2.) He has definitely been more emotional. He actually cries. Who knows if this is from the med or not, but Logan just doesn't cry. I know I have said this before, but it is so true. He will scream, yell, growl, and throw a heck of a tantrum....but he will not cry. Over the last couple of days there have been a couple of incidents that have made him actually cry: He bumped his nose, his sister refused to play what he wanted, and he backed up and hit his head by the stairs on the corner of the wall...all of which I know makes a "normal" child cry, but not Logan. It sounds a little crazy for me to want to hear him cry, but it lets me know that he is human and that he has emotion! This leads to #3...

3.) He hasn't been throwing as many tantrums as he normally does. Don't get me wrong, we have had a few, but they have definitely decreased.

Like I said, I am not sure if this is just coincidental or it is from the medication, but we have had a good few days.

Last night we went to my mother-in-laws for dinner and she made some kind of beef pasta and it was really good...the only downside was that by the time we got home and got Logan in his pj's he had hives all over. I called and got a list of the ingredients and the only thing that I know he hasn't ever had was red wine, which is what was used to make the sauce. I think that must have been the culprit! Nothing like a 4 1/2 year old being allergic to red wine...but it was used to cook with so there was no alcohol! :) We did give him benadryl and it took a while to work, but the hives eventually went away.

I went ahead and made an appointment with the allergist for next Thursday. He couldn't get in this week because he cannot have an antihistimine in his system for 3 days prior to going... So we are waiting until next week when Daddy can go with us. It takes a minimum of 2 hours. The nice thing is that they will test for airborn and food allergies. Wouldn't it be crazy if all of this behavior was triggered by a food allergy??? (Just something I have had in the back of my mind for a little while).

Well, I think that's it for now! We are relaxing and having a "comfy" kind of day with no appointments and no obligations!

Have a great day!!! :)